Cheaper Hydrogen Fuel Cells on the Horizon

May 3, 2011 (ENS) - Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have found a way to avoid the use of expensive platinum in hydrogen fuel cells, the environmentally-friendly devices used to power automobiles. The researchers have developed catalysts that use carbon and inexpensive iron and cobalt instead of platinum for the part of the fuel cell that reacts with oxygen.

Eliminating platinum, a precious metal more expensive than gold, solves an economic challenge that has thwarted widespread use of hydrogen fuel cell systems.

Any increase in the demand for platinum-based catalysts could drive up the cost of platinum even higher than its current value of nearly $1,800 an ounce.

In a paper published April 22 in the journal "Science," Los Alamos researchers Gang Wu, Christina Johnston, and Piotr Zelenay, joined by researcher Karren More of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, describe the use of a platinum-free catalyst in the cathode of a hydrogen fuel cell. {continued}